STOCKTON - At a time when the Thunder is trying to tighten up and make up for defensive losses, it gets a major lift for its offense.

Forward Toni Rajala, the team's leading scorer, was reassigned to Stockton from Oklahoma City on Monday and should be in uniform when it hosts the Las Vegas Wranglers at 7 p.m. today and Wednesday at Stockton Arena. The team also announced that top-line defenseman Nathan Deck has been sent to Oklahoma City.

The Thunder (11-5-2) is trying to break a four-game winless streak, and the return of Rajala can only help. The 21-year-old from Tampere, Finland, led Stockton with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 14 games before being promoted on Nov. 20 after the Barons suffered a series of injuries. He had two points in five games with the AHL team before being returned to Stockton.

"It's a great thing for us," Thunder coach Matt Thomas said. "He was an elite player in this league before he was called up, and he gives you an immediate lift up front. Let's hope he picks up exactly where he left off."

The addition of Rajala caused Thomas to change his lines again. He said Rajala will join center Eric Hunter and forward Yannick Riendeau, and Gabriel Levesque moves over to play with Phil Mangan and Jesse Fratkin. The line of Justin Maylan, Harrison Reed and Garet Hunt is expected to remain intact.

While Stockton's offense has been able to remain pretty productive through changes, defensively the Thunder has hit a lull. Stockton gave up an average of 2.4 goals in the first 10 games and 4.4 in the past nine.

"We're not playing very well, it's very simple," Thomas said. "We're just not executing our game plan, We're inconsistent right now, and as a result we're putting a lot of pressure on our goaltenders (Tyler Bunz and Cody Reichard)."

The Wranglers (7-7-3) are making their first visit to Stockton Arena this season. They won 3-2 in overtime in the only matchup between the teams on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas.